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| (2013-07-31 - 2013-08-01) |
| Aeschere flees from one party to argue with the other about the recent unpleasantness between Alma and Akari. |
| Aeschere Childs | No, it hasn't occured to her to call ahead; under the conditions of this particular departure Aeschere has spoken to as few people as possible. Minette might know. Maybe. Passage on the fast couriers isn't cheap or easy to come by, after all. It's certainly quick, though, especially into a major hub like the capitol. It could be a day and a half since she'd made her threats to visit, and the girl has disembarked only slightly raggedand slightly rushed. Possibly she's overestimating the urgency of the situation. I mean, Alma was well enough to sit up and argue the other night, and she said her sister's in to help her, and isn't Kyra supposed to be just as good as her? If Chera stopped to think about it she'd realize she was being ridiculous, which is why she won't. Instead, she's hit up some place or four and assembled a massive, if motley, take-home meal. That's always what /she/ wants when she's recovering, after all. And besides, it's not polite to show up empty-handed when you're visiting a friend. Behind a stack of trays and boxes, the little knight turns up the walk, towards what she was told was the Hyral apartment. |
| Alma Hyral | So Alma was pretty banged up. She didn't really indicate to many people just how banged up she actually was, though any who knew Akari generally had some inkling of an idea. Fortunately her magic had a little bit of an anesthetic effect else she'd have probably been dead. With as much as she had broken or ruptured battling Akari, she would have swooned unconscious either during or after the battle. But she'd made it back to Archades. Even with a little bit of anesthetic in your spells, having your bones shattered in so many places and several organs ruptured /hurt/. Fortunately Kyra enjoyed taking care of people, and after Alma had spent far longer on the phone than she should have last night, administered some sort of alchemical concoction that put her right to sleep. She'd spent most of the day in some drug-induced haze, adding her own magic to the process of healing when she could remember to, while remaining tucked in bed. Between the healing skill of Kyra and herself, she'd probably be out of bed by tomorrow, but for right she was still laid up. Every now and then she'd check her Ma Belle for messages, but otherwise was laying down. At the door of the apartment two guards would stop Aeschere briefly, but Alma had given them a list of people who were to be allowed in without too much hassle. Aeschere was that list. They let her in without a fuss. Alma was in bed at the moment in her bedroom, laying back, wearing a thin white nightgown and not too much else. The covers were up to about her chin currently. And she had an expression somewhat akin to that of the infamous Mognet meme.. grumpycat. |
| Kyra Hyral | To contrast, Kyra can be found at the kitchen table. She has her laptop out, thus giving Alma perhaps a much needed break from Kyra's "TLC." She genuinely seems to like taking care of people and is fortunately self-aware enough of her own limitations that she doesn't wind up feeding Alma horrible things to eat. The taste of her medicines leave much to be desired, though, but fortunately the sedation or sleep comes quickly. And if anything, the medicines are actually very healthy. No added sugars! Or fillers! She hears the door open and doesn't startle, knowing that the guards posted outside wouldn't let anyone unauthorized in to their apartment. Heck, they wouldn't even let unauthorized /mail/ into their apartment, mostly due to Kyra's requests (and Minette's meddling). "Hello." she greets cautiously when Aeschere enters, not recognizing her right away. "Alma's in bed." Why else would anyone be visiting today? |
| Aeschere Childs | Aeschere is certainly easy to spot; she recalls only now that she should be expecting security presence, but apparently she's already on the invite list. That too bodes well for Alma's condition, she supposes. Carefully, and at the far end from Kyra, she unloads her stack of foods, selecting only one of the smaller boxes from the top for now. "Ah... Kyra, halo. I brought lots of dinner, you can go ahead if you want." Hyral Elder has the right of it, though; thus excused for now, she heads directly... er, well, she sort of wanders until she finds the correct bedroom, not that she has far to look. "Alma, hi!" She manages to pack an awful lot of joy and relief into that small package. "I brought steam rolls. How do you feel?" |
| Alma Hyral | Grumpycat is grumpy. Until she spies Aeschere and the rolls. Then she offers a smile, "Hey Aeschere, really you didn't need to come. Between Kyra and myself I'll be back up in no time." But yeah she doesn't even make the move to sit up. Having your vertebral column scream at you every time you tried was nature's way of saying /Don't get up/. "And I'm kind of terrible company at the moment. Thanks for bringing dinner though. Else we'd probably need to order takeout and.. yeah." Archadian take-out post disaster left a lot to be desired. "So how's life at the Zaibatsu? Everyone treating you alright?" She ventures an attempt to try to sit up just fractionally, before her face contorts and she sinks back down. Aeschere might notice a constant soft white glow surrounding her. She calls out to the other room, "Hey Kyra, happen to have another one of those analgesics? I'm.. yeah. I'm really going to owe you a lot in alchemy components when this is all said and done." A pained chuckle. |
| Kyra Hyral | That voice. Kyra recognizes it as the timid-sounding one on the radio that seemed to grow quite anxious when she expressed her dismay with Akari's latest doings. Though here in person, she doesn't seem to react terribly much to Chera's identity, merely fixing the tiny dark knight with an unwavering gaze. "That was kind of you." she offers, immediately getting up to root through the food. Kyra can't cook and with Alma laid up, there was a lack of decent, hot food at the moment. She'll take it! While eating, she hears Alma calling out. After swallowing her latest bite and washing it down with a glass of water, she calls back, "Yeah! I've got some! Hey, don't worry about it, you've been an -excellent- patient." Some time passes before Kyra walks in, a set of pills in one hand, a fresh glass of water in the other. |
| Aeschere Childs | She's a bit less timid-sounding in person, although looking at all four feet and small change of her, one could understand it if Aeschere lacked confidence. She takes a seat on the corner of the bed and passes the box over to bed-ridden Alma; aaaaaaall the way over, so she doesn't need to stretch. She knows that feel. "I did say I would come, you know." Instead of doing anything else with the Seran issue. "But you look better than I feared." Chera herself looks like she miiiight not have slept much since they last spoke. But, she usually does, doesn't she? "The Group is... well. I stay close to Mina right now, just doing admin." The little knight makes an airy, dismissive gesture. "It bores me, but boring I think is good right now. Besides that..." ...besides that. Besides that is Akari. No 'besides that'. She banishes whatever dark look might've been brewing, and turns her smile on Kyra when she enters with pills. "I heard you did good work, and then I see that you do," she, er, compliments I guess? |
| Alma Hyral | Alma had thankfully healed the little fractures in her hands just after her skull, at least allowing her to grip objects. But still they were tender, and as she opened the box lid of the steam rolls, she couldn't help but wince. The smell helped her take her mind off it. "Yeah, thanks to Kyra. Trying to treat yourself when you're that messed up is just asking for disaster. And hey, thanks for coming." Which she'd tried to do a little bit at first, before finally acquiescing to the fact that she needed help. She had some stubborn pride after all. As Kyra enters and hands her the pills and the glass of water, she puts the pills into her mouth, before taking a sip of water to swallow them, and setting down on the bedside table. "You're just happy because I'm letting you try all your new concoctions." She waggles a finger to her, in a teasing fashion, "They're actually all pretty good. I'll write a journal on my observations once I'm up and about so you can have some more data." She hadn't even complained at all to her, even about the lack of sweetener. She was used to that being her sister's hallmark, and alchemy wasn't her field, so who was she to criticize? She laughs a little when Aeschere brings up to Minette, "Just don't get her too worked up. She's good people but recently she tried to say Haneisuru was dead because he was /certified dead/. It's been a bureaucratic mess ever since." |
| Kyra Hyral | If Kyra's at all listening to the chatter about the Murasame Zaibatsu, she gives no indications. She really is though, curious what this slight girl has to do with it all. Passing the pills to Alma, she glances to Chera. "Well of course. Say what you want about my cooking or aim. My medical care is /always/ top notch." A smile spreads on her face as Alma accuses her of using the younger Hyral as a guinea pig. "Mmmmmmaaaaaybe." Grinning, she turns to step out of the bedroom since the food she was eating was still on the kitchen table. "I bet Minette secretly enjoys the bureaucracy." |
| Aeschere Childs | "You think /secretly/ she enjoys it?" The quiet incredulity in Chera's tone says most of it. The pills and the interchange around them, she watched that with mild interest; reminds her of home, a bit. The whole situation does, actually. "If anyways, Alma trusts you to it, you must be the best." It seems like the Zaibatsu might be the topic, for now, though; that's mmmmostly fine. "She wanted a minion, just, I think. Otherwise just Souji orders her around the whole time, or she says it's that way." Aeschere shrugs. Half-shrugs. Doesn't seem like she wants to do that with her left arm. "So she pulls stunts like with Hanei. Or, that's his actual stunt, do you know. Like, he begged for an hour to have A--" Hold on, there's that name. Chera's line of conversation skids to a halt, and after a tense moment she sort of hurriedly grabs a pork bun to hide behind. |
| Alma Hyral | As Kyra's in the room, she states cheerfully, "Hey, your cooking isn't for consumption, but that was never the purpose of it anyhow. As chemical and biological weapons they're /amazing/. And your aim? It's much improved lately. I've noticed." On the guinea pig part, Alma just laughs a little, she doesn't seem to care in the least. She was a scientist too, just in a different field. So she didn't mind a little experimentation, so long as the person was honest and up front about it. And then they both speak on Minette, and she answers at that, "Oh no, she enjoys it pretty thoroughly, openly. She actually seems to hate it when anyone tries to circumvent the process. I drove her up a wall by submitting the Murasame Zaibatsu's official forms certifying him as alive, and with his soul present. Didn't know what else to do, but I think I made her job a little more difficult inadvertently." And then after a short pause, "And say what you want, but Minette is a pretty fair boss. I don't think she'll mistreat you. And she really could use the help, she has so many responsibilities heaped onto her." She gives Aeschere a patient look, though her smile seems a little terse, "You can say it. 'Akari'. Hanei is kind of into pain, and is a master mimic so I figured it'd only be a matter of time before he starts asking everyone to show them their techniques." |
| Kyra Hyral | "Oh you flatter me, Alma." Kyra sighs wistfully. (And really, her aim isn't that bad, though half the time she doesn't really need to aim all that carefully. Not when she's firing explosions!) The door is left open behind her so Kyra can eavesdrop on their conversation, especially when it turns to Minette. Kyra's eyes narrow every time the accountant is mentioned and not a shred of sympathy is spent on the apparently overtaxed girl. Not one. Kyra /knows/. "Haneisuru is very into pain." Kyra grumbles. "They'd make a good couple." |
| Aeschere Childs | Aeschere manages to giggle at that, even if she's still trying to hide from her misstep. "She seemed interested, yes." That's all the levity she can extract from the subject. Seems like it's a major worry for her, right now. And there she was, the other night, screaming at Alma to stop grabbing for blame, wasn't she? "Should turn them loose on eachother, maybe that keeps her out of trouble. Maybe." Well, Akari's going to be in a great deal of it if what Chera heard over comms was right. She doesn't seem happy about it. Oh, but she didn't come here to mope at Alma! "But you, this here is pretty nice, yeah?" The small girl makes a big gesture to encompass the apartment and its attendant security setup. "Half of my place in Bevelle fits in this room." You can tell her it's okay to say 'Akari' but she won't believe it. |
| Alma Hyral | "It isn't flattery if it's wholly true!" She retorts back at Kyra. Alma bites into one of the pork buns, having the uncomfortable sensation that one of her teeth is rattling just a bit loose. A soft glow spreads to her mouth, as she tries not to express the fact that it hurt just a little bit to eat and swallow. Last thing she needed was Kyra pureeing her food or feeding her a liquid diet. "He seems like it. He kept asking me the first time we met if I minded him being a mimic. I didn't know any mimics back on Galianda so I'm guessing people get offended that stuff that takes them years of training, he can do in seconds." She heaves out a sigh at that, "I don't think Hanei really knows what he's getting into there, but he did spend nearly six weeks in a Marlboro's mouth in real time... and probably months there in the darkness while they all slept. So.. maybe I'm misjudging him? Me?" She grins, "I kind of shatter like glass when someone that strong gets ahold of me and tries to beat me into submission." She calls out to Kyra after that, "I don't know, is Akari really /into/ anyone? She doesn't seem the type, even for a casual fling. Too angry." She looks around the apartment for a moment, wondering if Aeschere is being kind, "Oh, this is um, temporary housing that the Judge-Magisters set up for us while they're rebuilding the Upper City." A short pause, "We actually had a much nicer place until Alexandria decided to to ruin everything." She gives Aeschere another patient look for a while, "Look, not that I don't mind the visitors or the small talk, but you're sure there's nothing more serious you wanted to discuss? People don't usually come all this way for that." |
| Kyra Hyral | Alma is wise. Kyra can get her hands on a blender in record time. She would happily arrange it so Alma can ingest her meals through a straw. This, arguably, takes exactly all of the fun out of food. "PAIN IS WEAKNESS LEAVING THE BODY~" Kyra calls back cheerfully. Or in this case, pain is entertaining as long as it's happening to other people. "Hey, you never know Alma. Akari might be turned on by violence. If she can find someone she can be violent at without limits, she might really dig that person. I do agree, though, she's got some serious /issues/. It's almost kind of sad how she immediately assumes the worst in everyone." She sits back down at the table though avoids her laptop for now. No laptopping while eating, apparently. |
| Aeschere Childs | Aeschere is going juuuuust slightly pinkish while the sisters toss Akari's romantic potentiality back and forth. But, well, she sort of thought Alma knew what was up there, you know. Not that she /told/ her or anything, but. Well. You know. And that is, sort of, the more serious thing. Chera falls quiet and faintly blushing while Alma describes how this isn't even her final house, and waits for Kyra's assault to subside before speaking up. "I... do you know, she actually is nice to me. But Alma can tell you what she did when we met." |
| Alma Hyral | "Is that so? Well then I've got a Titanic /mountain/ full of weakness in me Kyra." She takes a hand up to her face, running her hand down her palm, before taking another bite from a pork bun, wincing. And nope, she didn't have the /first clue/ about Akari's love life. Not.. even.. the first.. clue. Kyra and her finish bantering back and forth on their assumptions about her romance before she looks back at Aeschere, noting the blush, but taking it simply as embarassment over a friend. "Yeah. You're pretty much her only friend that I know of Aeschere. She treats you pretty well, as near as I can tell. Though frankly I don't remember too much about that meeting. I was too busy kind of umm... cowering behind Artemis if I think. Then healing you of your injuries..which Akari had inflicted I believe...." She kind of trails off, blinking, maybe reassessing the treating her well statement. "And then she let you go so I could introduce you to the rest of the class." She tilts her head to the side, looking at Aeschere, "How did the two of you meet anyhow?" |
| Kyra Hyral | Kyra has this strange tendency of learning about a person's romantic leanings when it's far too late. Though she might have toned down her remarks if she knew what the score with Chera was...most likely not though. Her displeasure with Akari is vast. "So let me get this straight. She beats you up. My sister heals you. She /allows/ you to go meet other people? And this is her being nice? Tch." She shakes her head, "Again I pity her. It may have been a while since she's seen real kindness. It does not excuse her for what she's done." |
| Aeschere Childs | Aeschere certainly knows what the general opinion on Akari is, though confirming it for her is also nice. "When we /met/, she beat me up. And I actually did start it." She gives Alma the hard look, this time; Alma knows why. "She doesn't /allow/ me to meet people any more than you /allow/ Alma to. Please." She should calm herself, probably. She finishes her pork bun before it goes completely cold, and tries again. "I don't come here to excuse her. I didn't... Alma can tell you." It was the general thrust of their earlier conversation. "I don't /believe/ she'd just, like that, flatten you. She has no reason. She," was less complimentary of Alma than Kyra is being of her, really, "has even no /interest/. I won't understand." Chera swallows. "I won't defend her. Ashes, she won't let me if I try." A long pause, while Chera grasps for a different topic, even a slightly different one. Hey, yeah, Alma asked about that. Somewhat calmer, Asechere begins the story. "I was leaving Rabanastre for Fluorgis, do you know. Looking for all you. Akari rested at the second oasis; she talked a pile of garbage, like she meant to attack me, so I struck first." The little knight holds a hand up, forestalling comment. "I must, right? I don't get a chance to strike second. But whatever way, we fought. I... /almost/ won." And she looks a little proud of it. "Afterwards she hauled me to Rabanastre again and found me a medic." |
| Alma Hyral | Alma actually gives Aeschere a sheepish look at that, "Well there was a time when Kyra made deals with people to lay off me in order to protect me. Not exactly the same thing but.. heh." There's a short pause as she considers how best to deal with the next point, "...look. I told you before. She was insulting to me. And tried to bully me, like back when I was in school and calling me little rabbit and telling me to run. Well I've had it with running lately, so I was a little snarky to her. Nothing beyond just responding to her insults with a little snark. And when I laughed at a logical fallacy she thought I was laughing at a blind girl. But I did try to deflect, I tried to reason, I tried to get her mind off bullying me and onto something.. I don't know. Reasonable? Like talking about the Ame-No-Torifune. But I never claimed to be innocent there. I said we were both equally to blame." There is a short pause after that, as her expression starts to look abstracted, "So she threw the first punch at that point. And..." She looks down at her hands with a pained look, "Look there's a reason why I don't like fighting besides the fact that I don't like hurting people, and don't like violence. I don't remember half the fight, and I think I might have lost control. And maybe that what happened during that scared her enough for her to try to beat me to death. So I'm not going to try to defend myself either here." Thankfully they move on to a different topic. "So that's what happened then?" There's a short pause, and a nod, "Well it seems like she respects people who stand up to her..." But then she lays back, her eyes focusing on the ceiling, ".....just not me. Because I'm apparently some cheating witch." |
| Kyra Hyral | Kyra has gone silent now, which might not be a very good sign. She glances over her shoulder every now and then, a steely look in her eyes. No. Definitely not a good sign at all. After a while it becomes hard to tell if she's listening or just focusing on eating. |
| Aeschere Childs | Well, Aeschere didn't come here to sing the praises of Akari Seran, that's certain. She pats Alma on the, uh, knee probably because she can reach it, in what is nevertheless solely a friendly gesture of comfort. "I would suppose I was a cheating witch too if I'd beaten her." Perhaps that's what Akari 'respects' in her. Aeschere doesn't seem like she knows. Let's not let that gesture linger, now; here sister is /right there/ fuming, and she /did/ just come here as a friend in any case. Chera withdraws, a bit, a small girl looking smaller at the end of the bed. "I didn't talk to her yet. I even didn't talk to her since before this happened, I don't think. Maybe I shouldn't." |
| Alma Hyral | Alma let's in a sharp intake of breath all of a sudden, which causes a pained wince, before she exhales, her tone becoming a little resigned. "I don't know. I don't know how her mind works. Maybe it's only respect given unto those who stand there and can take her blows. Maybe she doesn't like spellcasters, or ranged combat or... maybe I genuinely spooked her ...I'm not going to pretend to know her psychology." She looks towards Aeschere for a time, her expression rather neutral and non-judgemental, before she finally speaks again, ".....You don't need to speak to her on this. It will probably just make her more upset. It's up to you though." |
| Aeschere Childs | Chera snatches her hand back at the merest sign that she's causing pain. Sorry. She listens, then, to Alma's speculation, and it'd all make sense except that it was wrong. She can't take a hit any better than Alma can, and, erm. It's a bit of an ingrained prejudgement of hers, but Aeschere doesn't expect anyone to approve of her particular combat methods. They amount, however, to spellcasting and mid-range work, and Akari /seems/ to like her fine. She's just, well, she isn't consistent and she beats on whoever she pleases, that's about it. "How can't I speak to her about this?" It's not a spiteful argument this time, it's just quiet confusion. "People will come after her," Chera glances over towards Kyra, furiously dining at the table, "if we either of us like it or don't. I should abandon her to them," she supposes, "but she'll just do it some more, unless maybe I tell her to lay off." Probably, Chera assumes more influence than she has. |
| Alma Hyral | Alma breathes out a sigh at that, a very slow one. The pills were starting to work on her a little. As her breathing grew a little more calm her expression a little foggy, "I really don't get why anyone wants to go after her at all. It was a fight. A schoolyard brawl that just went a little far. Helena.. okay Helena I can see, she outright said she would. Though I don't think it's for me, it's more to show that she's the alpha female. But everyone else? I fully admit that I'm just as much to blame as she is. And I really don't want anyone to get hurt on my account. I mean look, I /won/. How terrible is it that people hunt her down for that? I don't even want Helena to fight her but far be it from me to try and change her mind once she sets it to something." She turns her neck a little to get a better look at Aeschere, "And I would never advise you to abandon a friend, Aeschere. I mean, my last words to Akari before I left were to her to take care of you." There's a short pause as she just mulls over it all, another sharp exhalation of breath, "......but I am afraid that she'll hurt you if you try to bring it up, or tell her to lay off, so on the other hand I don't know what to do.. that's not a healthy friendship either." She closes her eyes, her expression a little grim, "...not a real black and white situation here. In the end I guess it's just going to be up to you to decide what's best, as you know her better than anyone." |
| Aeschere Childs | Aeschere finds somewhere to plant her hand that isn't part of Alma while she leans over her. Well, such as she can; even Hyrals are pretty unloomable for her. "We break like glass, right?" Both of them, Alma knows. "We don't have just brawls that went too far. We die. Akari knows us both." What is she hoping to accomplish with this? Sure, she's upset about it, and at Alma's specific request she isn't venting it on the guilty party. Should she be venting it on Alma instead? Of course not. She backs down, again. She keeps swinging to extremes on this issue; maybe she shouldn't have come here either. "She can bend me and break me, but she can't hurt me. Except maybe with this." |
| Alma Hyral | Aeschere looms(?), Alma just looks up at her, into her eyes. "I'm not so sure she knows in my case." Her expression looks abstracted, "Back at school she never tried to hurt me. I was so terrified that I ran away the moment I saw her. Sometimes she caught me and stuffed me into a locker. And then once I came to this world.. I'd fought her twice before. In one fight I was alongside Souji and another warrior. Oh she hit me, and I broke an arm, my shoulder, and my collarbone, but she wasn't as focused on me. In my next fight it was because some misguided boy found out that she'd hurt me before and wanted to take revenge on her to defend me. I cracked a few ribs but she stopped the fight when I started sobbing." And then she taps a hand upon a leather satchel that's laying nearby, on the bed, sighing, "....I tend to regenerate pretty fast. So she probably never even noticed. Even during the fight. Regeneration and some anesthesia in my magic. Otherwise I would have dropped probably the first time she landed a solid hit. So maybe she thinks that she can go further with me? I really don't know, but without white magic. I'd be dead. Or if someone managed to get to me in time, laid up in a hospital probably for months in a bodycast. Maybe on dialysis. Multiple surgeries. As it stands I'm just going to be in bed for two days. Not a bad deal all things considered." She puts a hand in the leather satchel, clutching something without actually drawing it out, ".... she has so few limits, so maybe she just doesn't comprehend the limitations of everyone else." |
| Aeschere Childs | "My patience gravely is limited," Aeschere confides, while she contains her envy, which is not. You can see in her eyes, as she nods along with Alma's laundry list, how familiar she is with that set of outcomes. After having been hauled, in a bucket, through the front-line combat program at the Academy. "I know-- no. I /don't/ at all know what Akari did to who, except since I met her, but I learn." It doesn't seem that she likes what she learns, either. "So, she did crush me, in the desert. After I drew blade on her. And she put me together and back on my feet after, though. That's why I stay with her." That and some things Alma probably isn't interested in. "...I'll talk to her. When I'm back. After the rest of you blow over. Perhaps she'll by then have been sorted." She smiles, slightly, but not as though she were happy about it, and then, carefully, she stands. "I should let you rest." |
| Alma Hyral | By this point Alma is exhausted. Mostly from a full day of maintaining regeneration magic upon herself while she's already injured, but also because the painkillers Kyra had her take have finally taken full effect. So she doesn't respond to everything, she just nods with a foggy expression. "Alright.. do what you think is best. Don't get yourself killed, alright?" And then she murmurs softly right after her eyes close with some sense of finality to them, "...rest would be nice." |
| Aeschere Childs | That'll be it, then. Perhaps she'll hurry back to the Torifune. Or perhaps she'll walk; a day probably isn't time enough for Aeschere to settle her thoughts on the issue. She should've spoken to Kyra more, she thinks, now that she's leaving and Kyra has furious'd herself entirely away or something. She still feels like she needs to hear someone call Akari out for her misdeed. Even if it's the same misdeed that she perpetrates on Chera herself. Enough of that is going to happen soon, it sounds like, though. She nods to the guards on her way out, and heads slowly up the alley. |